Mass Effect: Iron Curtain
by Harbinger1975
Summary: This story takes place after Mass Effect 3 and continues the life of Commander Nikolai Shepard and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.
1. Siberian Heart

**Mass Effect: The Iron Curtain**

**Siberian Heart**

-A lone heartbeat is heard-

_"Soyuz nyerushimyy respublik svobodnykh. Splotila naveki Velikaya Rus'. Da zdravstvuyet sozdannyy voley narodov. Yedinyy, moguchiy Sovetskiy Soyuz!" Five young soldiers aboard a frigate sing loudly and proudly, led by a young Nikolai Shepard. Six young N7 soldiers praising their homeland by singing its anthem among many American type Alliance Marines._

-A second heartbeat sounds-

_"I saw your face as you watched Lt. Alenko die on Virmire. I watched you as you faced everything the galaxy threw at you. I have watched you for so long." Shepard reached to touch Tali'Zorah's face as she spoke. "But I understand if you want to be with…someone else."_

"_I don't want anyone else. I want you, Tali." Shepard takes Tali's hands in his._

-A third heartbeat-

_"Shepard…Nikolai…what's wrong?" Tali rested her head against his shoulder._

_"Is this what it's like?" Shepard looked down._

_"For interspecies to adapt when they're in love? Yes. To adapt to the Reapers? Not so much." She saw the look on his face. "What are you feeling, Nik?"_

_"Like all of this is for nothing. That no matter how hard we try…" He was surprised to hear her finish his sentence._

_"You feel like you will lose everything. I know how you feel. But when I do feel that way, I reach for you." Tali looked up at him. "I'm here for you, Shepard."_

_Nikolai touched the side of her mask. "Thank you, Tali."_

_As he stood up to put and walked into the private bathroom, Tali watched him. "Whenever you need me, I will always be right here."_

-A fourth heartbeat-

_Tali stood in front of Shepard. Tears forming in her eyes. "This isn't enough time. Dammit." She ran over to Shepard and put her arms around him. She looked up at him. "Do you remember the homeworld? I said 'I love you'. And...and you said…"_

_Shepard lifted her chin. He didn't have to see her face to know she was crying. "Keelah'selai." He answered. He held her tight. "I'm so sorry we didn't have enough time, Tali. But I love you, so much."_

-A final heartbeat-

_Shepard looked at the Catalyst being. He then looked at the machine before him, his anger growing. Something was wrong about this whole thing. He fought like hell to gather the largest fleet to fight the Reapers. He glared at the ethereal like being in front of him. "Don't lie to me. This isn't real."_

_The being looks at him. "It is every bit as real as the breath you breathe, Commander Shepard. You can end the cycle. You can destroy our kind. But if you do, you will destroy all synthetics, even yourself. You can help the other races by joining them with the synthetics. Or you can control the Reapers and send them back to dark space. But you must choose, Shepard."_

_Nikolai stopped at that. What this thing was saying made little to no sense. After several moments of analyzing the situation, Shepard looked outside to see the Reapers attacking the fleets over Earth. As he turned to look back at the Catalyst being, he noticed something. The numbers on the walls were all wrong. Were the walls glass, it might make sense, but these walls were solid. A small grin crossed his lips. "Oh I will make a choice. But you've failed, Harbinger." He watched as the eyes of the child changed. "Was I to choose to have all organics merging with the synthetics, then I will have given you all the husks necessary to carry on with your harvesting. And if I were to control you, you could in turn have me under your control." He walked towards the machine, holding his side from where he was shot. He moved his hand away and looked at the blood on his hand. "But you forgot one thing, Harbinger. I'm not synthetic. I may have implants, but you will be the only ones dying." He straightened up as best he could and drew his pistol. One final memory passed through Shepard's mind._

_-Shepard looked at the terminal after seeing the history of the Lazarus project. "How do I even know I'm really me? For all I know I could be some VI posing as Commander Shepard."_

_Tali walked over to Shepard and took him in her arms. "You are real. You are the man I love. And you are mine."-_

_Nikolai leveled his pistol at the machine. "I choose destruction, Harbinger. And if that means I die with you, then at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I took you all down with my dying breath." He began to squeeze the trigger. "I love you, Tali." He glared at Harbinger. "Do svidaniya." He pulled the trigger fully. The Predator pistol barked angrily as its bullets tore through the machine. Harbinger roared in rage as the machine exploded, fire consuming the entire area. Shepard smiled as he knew…it was finally over._

Machines beeped softly in the ICU. Heart rate, brain activity, breathing, and many other readouts were being silently read as Commander Nikolai Shepard lay in the hospital bed on the Citadel. A Quarian hand holding his as he lay motionless. Five days had passed since Commander Shepard had been brought here, and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy had stayed with him for nearly the full five days. She had barely slept, barely eaten as the man she loved was barely hanging onto life.

One of the scientists that Shepard had saved with Jacob's help walked into the ICU room. She folded her hands in front of her. "Mrs. Shepard?" She asked not sure if they were even married.

Tali looked up at the scientist. She almost had a smile hearing that name. "We're not married, even though, it feels like we are. And no, I'm not leaving."

The young woman smiled. "Ma'am, I would never ask you to do so. My name is Melissa Warrens. I was one of the scientists who worked on the Lazarus project. I was in the cybernetics division and I created some of the parts that were used to bring Shepard back."

Tali wanted to be angry because she was at one point Cerberus. But she knew this wasn't what Nikolai would want. She looked at Melissa and then back at Shepard. "What is happening to him?"

Melissa sat down. "When the Crucible discharged, we got some very odd readings. The Reapers seemed to just…shut down. And it got me to wondering, if that happened to the Reapers, could that same wave have caused Shepard's cybernetics to shut down?"

Tali had been so tired, she almost didn't catch what the doctor said. But as she realized what Melissa had said, her eyes went wide. "Shepard…his cybernetics would just need to be restarted?" Excitement filling her voice.

Melissa raised her hand. "That's the theory. But that's all it is. They could have shorted out. I don't know."

Tali nearly jumped up. "We have to do something!" She was practically in tears again. Her emotions were varying so much right now. "The man I love is dying and you're sitting here telling me the odds?"

Melissa stood up and placed her hands on Tali's shoulders. "Miss Tali'Zorah, I want so much to help right now. But these theories…they could do more harm and could kill him if we're wrong."

Tali slumped back into the chair. She felt herself losing composure again. "I just want him back. I want to take him home."

Melissa watched as Tali took Shepard's hand again. She furrowed her brow in frustration. Dammit, she was not going to see one more casualty in this war. Not when the man that was lying in the bed was the hero that saved so many. She turned and walked out of the room, determined to do her part to save the man that saved this galaxy.

As night fell, the doctors had come in a few times to check on Shepard. There was no change in his vitals. They had stopped asking Tali to go back to the Normandy and try to get some sleep. She wasn't going to budge. Tali did, in fact, doze off for a few hours as midnight rolled around. She was still holding Shepard's hand. One o'clock in the morning came and a beep came from one of the readouts. Tali only stirred for a second at the sound. Then another beep sounded. Shepard slowly started to take deeper breaths; the machines began recording the higher heart rate readings. Tali felt the squeeze on her hand and woke up with a startle. She saw Shepard stirring and starting to move. His implants in his face glowing slightly. Her heart skipped a beat seeing the man she loved waking up.

"T…Tali…" He said softly. He was still very weak.

"Shepard! Shepard I'm right here!" A euphoric joy could be heard in her voice

"W…we…did it. The…the Reapers…" His words were clipped and exhausted sounding.

She tore off her visor, kissing him on the lips and cheeks. "No. No my wonderful Shepard. You did it. You saved us all." She kissed him more. "Keelah…you're alive." Tears fell down her cheeks, her voice shaking from the tears of joy.

"D…don't…cry…Tali. Don't…cry." He tried to reach for her face through barely open eyes.

Tali only pressed her tear streaked face against the side of his.

The doctors came running in seeing the increased readouts. They stopped dead in their tracks to see Commander Shepard finally waking up. One of Asari doctors went over and placed her hands on Tali's arms. "Miss Vas Normandy, the Commander has to rest now. He's through the worst of it."

Tali glared back at the doctor through her tears. "It's Mrs. Shepard, your bosh'tet! I'm not leaving him!"

The doctor pleaded with Tali, but it was Dr. Chakwas who took Tali in her arms and calmed her. "Tali, the doctors are right. Shepard is awake and through the worst of it. But his body needs to rest now. I promise you can see him in the morning." She took Tali's visor and walked Tali out.

As she did, Tali called back to Shepard. "I will just be outside, Shepard! I'll be right here!"

Dr. Chakwas sat with Tali outside of Shepard's room in ICU. The doctors had finished their analysis and walked out to speak with them. "I don't know how this is possible." The doctor started. "But Commander Shepard's vitals are strong. A day ago I would have given him a ten percent chance to live. Now? I expect him to make a full recovery. I don't know how…"

Tali couldn't help but smile. "No one can keep Shepard down. He's fought against impossible odds. He wasn't going to let the Reapers win."

Dr. Chakwas smiled and agreed. "She's right. The Commander's been through so much and yet, here he is. Shepard, our immovable center."

The Asari doctor was so surprised at the confidence of Shepard's friends. He must have had some impact for these people to have such faith in his resilience. "Though he's through the worst of it, we're still going to keep him under heavy watch to make sure he doesn't regress. After that, it's going to take months of therapy. But I'm sure the Commander will do just fine."

Three days later, the crew of the Normandy heard about the good news from Tali. They went to the medical center on the Citadel and when the doctors gave the clearance for visitors, three at time went in. Tali stayed with Shepard and the doctors knew better than to argue with her.

Lt. Vega, Ashley Williams, and the Asari Councilor were the first to go in to see Commander Shepard. "Hey, I knew those bondeho Reapers couldn't keep you down, Loco." Vega grabbed Shepard's hand and shook it with vigor. "Good to see you can still kick their asses, Loco."

Ashley smiled. "So, you got to Ilos, destroyed the Collector Base, and kicked the hell out of those Reapers. So can we say that there isn't anything you can't do, Skipper?" She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Good to have you back with us, Shepard."

The Asari Councilor stepped forward. "Commander, I don't think there are enough thanks that any of the council races can give you to express how deeply indebted to you we are."

Shepard was actually sitting up in bed and looked a little stronger. "It wasn't a total win, Councilor. There were heavy losses, and a lot of planets lost. I'm so sorry about Thessia."

The look on the Councilor's face told of her sadness at the loss of her home. "I know you did everything you could, Commander. I don't blame you. And the ones that destroyed it are now destroyed themselves."

That didn't make Shepard feel any better. The rebuilding of lives was going to take a long time. And no one was walking away from this without scars. Over the next few hours, the others of the Normandy and the Councilors all met and spoke with Commander Shepard. But as everything died down, it was now just Shepard and Tali.

Nikolai kissed Tali's hand. He smiled as she looked at him. "Thank you, Tali."

"For what, Shepard?" She asked earnestly.

"For not giving up on me." If she looked beautiful before, she was radiant now. For days she was his guardian angel, watching over him.

Tali smiled as she held his hand close to her heart. "You never gave up on any of us. And I'm sure as hell not going to give up on the man that I love."

Shepard laid his head back. He smiled as he decided that he was going to build Tali a house on the homeworld. She would have everything she ever wanted. She deserved nothing less.

* * *

A/N: Many of you enjoyed my FemShep/Garrus story, "The Life We Live". So I decided to do one for my MShep and Tali'Zorah. I hope you come to like this story as well.


	2. Dark of the Night

**Dark of the Night**

**Commander Shepard's physical therapy went better than the doctor's expected. He refused to slow down during his sessions and continued to push himself. It was only when Tali asked that he did finally slow down. She was what was driving him, Tali and the thoughts of what was left of Earth. He still had nightmares about the boy that was killed when he escaped the planet. But they were becoming less and less frequent. Melissa Warrens, the cybernetics expert that had visited Tali and Shepard, was astounded that Shepard had even woken up at all. Maybe the Illusive Man had been wrong about the implants. She had been told that if the implants had been shut down in any way, only Cerberus would have been able to reactivate them. She was baffled at how they even restarted. Her thoughts then went to the Crucible. Maybe it was that energy pulse that had caused a reset in the startup sequence of the implants. They were shut down and then after a time, restarted. Melissa couldn't find the answer. Maybe it was one of those questions that were best left unanswered. Shepard was alive and walking again. She had watched him and Lt. Vega sparring with Tali watching on. Jacob was right, Shepard was not about to let anyone keep him down. He was going to fight until there was no breath left in him.**

**-Citadel, the Presidium-**

**Admiral Anderson smiled as he saw Shepard walk into his office with Tali. "Shepard. You look good for dead, son." Anderson shook his hand. "When we found you, we thought we were going to lose you."**

**Shepard shook Anderson's hand with a firm and reassuring grip. "Not a chance, sir." **

**Tali was soon shaking Anderson's hand as well. "Is everything alright, Admiral?"**

**Anderson sat down and motioned for the other two to sit. "I wish I could say that everything was alright, Tali'Zorah. But crews are sorting through the rubble of Earth. Shepard, it's heartbreaking. With as much fighting as we did, Earth almost seems unsalvageable." Anderson rubbed his eyes. The admiral looked exhausted. But the war had taken its toll on everyone. He handed a datapad to Shepard. "This was given to me after you were admitted into Huerta Memorial, Shepard."**

**Commander Shepard took the datapad and punched a few keys. He held it in such a way so he and Tali could listen to what was on it. What they heard next was almost too much. "I have made my last communications." The sounds in the background were gunfire. "Make your noise…it doesn't scare me. Nothing in this world can scare me more than what I am about to do." The sound of a Reaper is heard. Shepard looks over to see Tali put her hand up to the mouth of her visor. They both continue to listen. "If anyone hears this…my name is Emily Wong. I witnessed my homeworld brought to its knees…but I did not go out on mine!" The distant sound in the recording sounded like aerial units. "I love you mom…" The sound of an explosion ended the recording. Shepard just looked at the datapad. Tali's sobs caught in her throat.**

**"Sh...Shepard…" Tali started to say.**

**Nikolai was already looking at her. He knew she was crying. He took her in his arms and looked at Anderson. "Where was her last location, Admiral?" Shepard's voice was a little softer than normal, but something in him was growing.**

**Anderson looked down at another datapad. "She was last known to be near St. Petersburg, Shepard, and your hometown." Anderson shook his head. "She was listed as 'Missing in Action', son. You're probably not going to find her."**

**Nikolai gritted his teeth. "The hell I won't, sir." Shepard's voice had the determination of the man who faced down Saren, the Collectors, and the Reapers. "I'm taking the Normandy back to Earth. Don't send that to her family until I confirm she is dead." He looks over to Tali. "We're not going to stop until we find her. It's the least we can do for her."**

**Tali nodded. "I know you, Shepard; you're not going to rest until you find out the truth." She looked at Anderson. "We're going to find her."**

**Anderson stood in protest. "Shepard, you haven't been cleared by Huerta Memorial; you know I can stop you from going."**

**Shepard stood and looked at Anderson. "And will you, Anderson?" Technically Shepard was still a part of the Alliance. But he was shocked to hear the answer from Anderson.**

**"I'm not going to stop you. I know this is going to sound cliché and I know you've heard it a hundred times before. But you're probably the only one who'll find her alive. Bring her home, Shepard." Anderson nodded firmly.**

**-St. Petersburg, Russia. Earth. Three days later-**

**Shepard looked over his hometown as Joker brought the Normandy in from orbit. The truth of the matter was most of St. Petersburg was destroyed. But Shepard told Joker to land the Normandy just outside the main part of the city. The crew of the Normandy exited the ship. EDI went with the group as her strength would be crucial if they found Emily Wong. Shepard was fully armed and armored even though the fighting was over. There may have been scavengers or husks that were still around in the rubble. As the large group moved into the center of the city, Shepard looked around. A Reaper corpse lay just behind the cathedral in the city. Shepard played back the recording from Emily. He listened as did the group. They were silent, each sound a terrible reminder of what was lost. As he played and replayed the recording, he moved to get a better idea of where she might have been. The Reaper in the recording was close and the explosion happened just after it made its sound. The aerial units had only gone a short distance which means they came from behind something. Tali watched Shepard's careful movements. He knelt down, putting his back towards a collapsed wall.**

**Tali moved over and knelt next to him. "She was hiding, wasn't she?"**

**He looked behind him towards the Reaper corpse. "She only hid for a moment, enough to send the transmission." He looked around again. "She was near here." He stood up and motioned towards the Normandy crew. "Everyone, start sifting through the rubble, and call out if you find anything."**

**Many hours passed as the crew moved from site to site, clearing the rubble. Night was falling on the fallen city and the crew was giving up hope of finding the missing reporter. As Shepard was about to call it for the night, Vega called out. "Loco, over here!"**

**Everyone ran towards Vega. As Shepard rounded the corner, he stopped to hear someone banging on a steel door buried under a collapsed wall. The sound was about 200 yards from where Shepard had first determined the possible location of where Emily Wong might have been. Shepard took hold of the steel handle and tied to pull it up. But it was larger and heavier than he anticipated. "EDI, get this thing open."**

**"Of course, Shepard." She lifted the steel door without much effort.**

**As EDI did, the crew nearly burst into adulation when they saw Emily Wong and a few other humans had survived. Shepard jumped down and Vega lowered Dr. Chakwas into the small shelter. She scanned Emily Wong who was crying, happy to see someone from the outside world. Chakwas looked up to Shepard. "She has two broken ribs, a broken arm and leg, Shepard. We have to get her to a medical facility."**

**Shepard looked up. "Tali get the gurney, quickly!"**

**"On it, Shepard!" Tali said as she ran off to get it.**

**Shepard placed his hand on Emily's shoulder. He smiled hoping to help raise her spirits. "You're really going to do anything for that interview, huh?" He chuckled.**

**Emily let a tearful chuckle escape her lips. "The world needs to know, Commander."**

**He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "You're gonna be alright. We're going to get you back to the Citadel." All he heard her say was thank you, repeatedly. **

**Tali'Zorah returned with the gurney. Vega and she separated the upper part and together, the crew of the Normandy lowered it into the shelter. Shepard hadn't forgotten about the other three people in the shelter with Emily. He had all intentions to find out what happened. Dr. Chakwas and Shepard secured Emily in the gurney and the crew carefully lifted her out of the shelter. They rushed her to the medical bay where the Asari doctor who watched over Shepard was there waiting. Once Emily was safely on board the Normandy, the crew helped Shepard, Chakwas and the other three survivors out.**

**Tali put her arms around Shepard and hugged him tightly. Shepard looked to the three other survivors. "Can you three tell me what happened during the last moments here?" He had forgotten he was in Russia for a moment.**

**The three Russian survivors looked at one another. One of the two women stepped forward. "Ty komandora Sheparda? Slava Bogu. My obnaruzhili, Emili okazavshikhsya pod upavshyei****̆**** stenoi****̆****. Zhnets byl pryamo na nas." (**_"You're Commander Shepard? Thank God. We found Emily trapped under a fallen wall. The Reaper was right on top of us"_**). The woman rubbed her arms like she was cold. But she continued. "The Reaper povernulsya, no pered yego uvidel nas, my nashli etu staruyu bomboubezhishche. My ostalis****ʹ**** vnutri, poka vse bylo tikho. Sergi yest****ʹ****vrach i zabotilsya o miss Vong. U nas bylo dostatochno yedy. I k schast****ʹ****yu, vy nas nashli." (**_"The Reaper turned, but just before it saw us, we found this old bomb shelter. We stayed inside until everything went silent. Sergi is a doctor and cared for Miss Wong. We had enough food. And thankfully, you found us"_**).**

**Tali blinked as the woman talked. Her translator couldn't understand anything that the woman said. She looked at Shepard. She saw him as he blinked his eyes slowly.**

**Shepard nodded. If Tali were confused before, she was going to be very confused now. "Kak davno vy zdes****ʹ**** skryvaet****·****sya? Byla li ona shest****ʹ**** mesyatsev (**_"How long have you been hiding here? Has it been six months?"_**)?" Being in Huerta Memorial time had no meaning for Shepard.**

**The woman shook her head. "Net, eto tol****ʹ****ko bylo okolo trekh mesyatsev." (**_"No, it has only been about three months"_**).**

**Shepard nodded his head. He caught Tali's expression out of the corner of his eye and chuckled slightly. She couldn't understand Russian; the universal translators were never programmed with the individual human languages. He looked over the three survivors. "YA khochu, chtoby vy proverili na Normandiyu. Zatem my vernemsya k Tsitadeli, chtoby vy mogli byt****ʹ**** oprosheny. Vy ne mozhete byt****ʹ**** soldatami, no vy proshli cherez mnogoe (**_"I want all of you checked out on the Normandy. We'll then return to the Citadel so you can be debriefed. You may not be soldiers, but you've been through a lot."_**)."**

**All three survivors returned to the Normandy with the crew. Their mission here was finished. Shepard looked around at his home. Anderson was right, it was heartbreaking. He saw three crew members from the Normandy kneeling down at a fallen statue of Stalin. So much was lost to the people of Earth. Tali could see the hurt in Shepard's eyes. She had her home back, but the man she loved, the man that meant the galaxy to her lost his protecting hers, fighting for hers. "Nikolai, please talk to me. Please tell me what you're feeling."**

**"For a long time, Tali, I've known how much your people valued their place with each other. How your ships were your nation for three hundred years. I've seen the pride of your people. But I've never given you the chance to see the pride of the Russian people. I want you to hear something." He took her hand gently and opened her omni-tool. "This is something that can't be understood through the translators. The words mean something to us, but for you, I just want you to understand the pride of our Motherland."**

**Tali nodded as he deactivated her universal translator. She watched as he walked over to a man and a woman, two people that worked on the bridge of the Normandy. They were apparently from Russia as well.**

**Shepard asked them to stand up. All three stood at a fallen flag of Russia. Shepard stood at attention, hands at his side as did the other two. All three loudly and proudly sang the song of their Motherland. Shepard had started off.**

"_Soyuz nerushimyy respublik svobodnykh  
__Splotila naveki velikaya Rus'!  
__Da zdravstvuyet sozdannyy voley narodov  
__Yedinyy, moguchiy Sovetskiy Soyuz!_

_Slav'sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye,  
__Druzhby narodov nadyozhny oplot!  
__Partiya Lenina — sila narodnaya  
__Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot!_

_Skvoz' grozy siyalo nam solntse svobody,  
__I Lenin velikiy nam put' ozaril,  
__Na pravoye delo on podnyal narody,  
__Na trud i na podvigi nas vdokhnovil!_

_Slav'sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye,  
__Druzhby narodov nadyozhny oplot!  
__Partiya Lenina — sila narodnaya  
__Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot!_

_V pobede bessmertnykh idey kommunizma  
__My vidim gryadushcheye nashey strany,  
__I krasnomu znameni slavnoy otchizny  
__My budem vsegda bezzavetno verny!_

_Slav'sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye,  
__Druzhby narodov nadyozhny oplot!  
__Partiya Lenina — sila narodnaya  
__Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot!"_

**Tali watched the three. She didn't have to hear any translation to know that Shepard, and those from his country held such pride in their homeland. Their voices were strong, defiant against the devastation that was before them. Through them, Russia, their Motherland, would live on in their hearts. Tali put her own hand to her heart. Shepard was so much like the Quarian people. He understood the meaning of fighting for one's home. It was no wonder why she loved him so much. She was shaken from her thoughts as he took her hand and turned her translator back on. She looked up at him, her eyes smiling. "Shepard, that was so beautiful. But...what will happen to your home now?"**

**Shepard looked around St. Petersburg. He shook his head. "I don't know, Tali. My family all moved to Terra Nova a long time ago. There's nothing more for me here on Earth. But I'll always remember the Motherland."**

**Tali walked over to the fallen flag of Russia and carefully folded it. She carried it back to Nikolai. "There might not be anything left for you here on Earth, Shepard. But there is a place for you on Rannoch. There is a place for you there, our home."**

**Shepard placed his hand on the flag. He pulled her close and held her tight. "I'm going to do what your father couldn't, Tali. I'm going to build you a home on the Homeworld."**

**Tali threw her arms around Shepard. "I love you, Nikolai."**

**"Keelah'selai." Was all that Shepard responded with.**

* * *

**A/N: There wasn't any way in hell I was going to see our favorite reporter lost in the Mass Effect Universe limbo! More of Emily Wong in the next chapter.**


End file.
